JVP Parliamentarian Sunil Handunetti questioned whether the Ministry of Disaster Management was established to distribute relief items among victims of natural disasters. 

"Their conduct is akin to that of dogs that bill 'houses' in Nuwaraeliya. When it's cold they start building houses. When it's completed, the cold season has passed and there is no need of houses!" Handunetti said, while speaking in Parliament, on Friday. 

"They do not have a plan to mitigate the impact of a disaster before it hits Sri Lanka. They only launch into action after a disaster," the MP explained.

"They think of averting flood risk when the rivers are about to spill. Such measures do little to protect human lives."

"If the common public did not intervene, the victims would have been in jeopardy for days. The people took the initiative; media outlets launched campaigns to help the victims," Handunetti said, while directing his criticism at the Disaster Management Ministry.